Lane closure on Fifth Street Bridge.  (Photo by Allanah Wills)Lane closure on Fifth Street Bridge. (Photo by Allanah Wills)
Chatham

More bridge construction planned in downtown Chatham

As the municipality of Chatham-Kent prepares to open one bridge downtown, another planned closure is on the horizon.

The Third Street Bridge in downtown Chatham in set to undergo a renovation similar to the ongoing project on Fifth Street, according to Chris Thibert, director of engineering and transportation for the municipality. The Fifth Street Bridge has been under construction since June 29, 2017, was recently closed again since April 15, and is expected to re-open in May.

The Third Street Bridge was built in 1961 and since then has undergone several repairs with the last repair in 2004. Its closure is expected to take place in late 2020 or early 2021 after the municipality and contractors complete an environmental assessment (EA).

EA's usually take approximately one year to complete and give contractors a guideline for how the municipality and public want the job to be done.

"That gives the 'cookbook' I guess or the framework to the engineer for the design of the bridge," said Thibert. "We have a consultant on board and they are gathering all the background information and doing all the outreach [for the project]."

There will be two public forums in 2019 regarding the construction on the Third Street crossing. One will happen in late spring, said Thibert, who added no dates or locations are set in stone yet.

"The first one will likely be coming up shortly, which will likely be held at the Municipal Civic Centre down in the atrium," he said. "We will be putting out a release to media and the public once we have it confirmed."

The EA of the Third Street Bridge project will be followed by a design process scheduled for 2020 with construction tentatively set to begin after that wraps up.

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Similarities to current bridge construction 

To cut on costs for the project, the municipality will be looking to see if any existing parts of the bridge can be salvaged, said Thibert.

"If there are any components of the bridge that ... have a good life left for us to proceed with construction then we call it 'rehabilitation,'" he said. "But if everything is determined to be well-beyond its life span and is not sufficient for carrying additional vehicles or loads to move forward with construction, then it will be a full on replacement."

It is uncertain how long the bridge will need to remain closed for once construction begins. However, Thibert said the current renovations to the Fifth Street Bridge and the future construction work to the Third Street Bridge are somewhat comparable.

"We are anticipating it will be very similar to the construction of the Fifth Street Bridge," he said. "We were able to reuse the existing concrete piers and footings and basically just replace the deck [for the Fifth Street project]."

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A continued watch for vandals is expected  

After seeing repeated acts of vandalism to bridges in Chatham-Kent over the past month -- two of which happened during construction on the Fifth Street Bridge and another occurring in Wallaceburg -- Thibert said continued communication with police will hopefully ensure the Third Street project won't be set back by unexpected damages.

"Both of these bridges are in a very downtown pedestrian setting and we hope the public will work with us to bring to the attention [to vandalism] as soon as they see something," he said.

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